Introducing Melanie Ratnam

 

My fondest memory of Canada was actually my earliest; my holiday to visit family in Toronto back in 1990 – by myself – at the tender age of 10! Like most Tamils, I have a lot of family in Canada, and they weren’t joking when they said Scarborough was like little Jaffna. I was amazed! There were shops with signboards in Tamil, Tamil kids who were 6ft tall by the age of 12, and even had restaurants just for Kothu Roti! I was finally home!

Being the eldest on both sides of the family, they showed me so much love that after those two weeks, I left Canada two stones heavier. Not healthy for a 10-year-old boy! Along with remembering the delights of Chucky Cheese and Canada’s Wonderland, I was introduced to a fellow singer, a friend of the family whose voice would be the subject of family conversations for years to come. After regaling them with stories about my trip to Spain with the choir for a singing competition, we – in true Tamil style – were ordered to sing it out! My memory goes a little hazy at this point. Not sure if I chickened out, or if I sang so badly that (out of fear) my memory decided to block out the whole experience! What I do remember was listening to this little girl sing…and yes, she had the voice of an angel!

 

Her name is Melanie Ratnam, and she has been singing since she was a mere 4 years of age. She s trained in classical music and, just like me, a soprano. Unfortunately, that is where the similarities end. Whilst I decided it was no longer "cool" to be in the church choir (partly due to my voice cracking mid-performance), Melanie went on bigger and better things. She has performed at several venues in the Greater Toronto Area (Canada) such as Roy Thompson Hall and the Rogers Centre to name a few. Her list of accomplishments didn’t end there, however; she has also won prestigious national scholarships for her academic achievement and is currently a PhD student in Department of Cell & Systems Biology at the University of Toronto, doing stroke research!

 

You can follow Melanie’s work via her YouTube channel, where she uploads her cover version of popular songs. Below is her cover of Michael Buble‘s "Baby (You’ve Got What It Takes)" followed with a cover of "Angel" by Sarah McLachlan: